


clumsy waltz with you

by rainclouded



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:29:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29475486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainclouded/pseuds/rainclouded
Summary: Imai Lisa and Hikawa Sayo have a lot on their plates—family, friends, schoolwork, magic, maybe even some other budding feelings. Toss it all together and who knows what kind of concoction it might turn into. Medicine, or poison? It's up to them to decide.(currently on hiatus)
Relationships: Hikawa Sayo/Imai Lisa
Comments: 16
Kudos: 65





	1. Chapter 1

Lisa felt her eyes sliding off of the page of her history textbook, unable to continue focusing on the details of the construction of the public transit system, and, once again, pulled out the letter she'd placed folded between its pages. Its energetic, slightly messy handwriting immediately brought to mind the exuberance of the person who'd written it, and she couldn't help but smile faintly.

 _Hey, Lisacchi!_ it opened. _It's a lot different out here, away from the school. There's not a whole lot of people around, so that's a little less fun, but there's lots more weird magic stuff to mess around with. The old lady I'm supposed to be learning from says I'm 'difficult,' but she sure knows a lot. I should have a whole bunch of cool stuff to show you when I get back!_

What followed were several paragraphs of difficult-to-understand descriptions of spells—whether that difficulty came from the complexity of the spells themselves or Hina's unique description of them, Lisa couldn't say—before returning to more personal conversation.

_I thought you might get lonely in that room by yourself, so I told my sister and Chisato to keep an eye on you so that doesn't happen. Anyway, it's not too bad out here but no one's as fun to talk to as you are, Lisacchi, so I'll make sure to get back by break!_

_Write back!_ The letter urged, then ended with Lisa's roommate's distinctive signature, the one Lisa had seen her practicing on a number of objects that had no reason to be signed. Hina was, as always, Hina, and reading the letter only made Lisa want to see her again more, even though it had only been a couple of weeks since she'd gone off for her specialized training. It was, as Hina had surmised, lonely being in a dorm room by oneself, although the dormitory being full of people meant that it wasn't as difficult as it might have been in another situation.

And, while Lisa appreciated the thought of Hina asking people to check up on Lisa, the people she'd chosen were, well, maybe not exactly ideal for the task. Chisato and Lisa had been on good terms once, but the passage of time and the way the two of them had changed meant that their relationship could no longer really be considered close. And while Chisato was hardly the most friendly person Lisa knew, she was a good deal easier to deal with than Hina's sister, who adopted a sharp attitude even with people considerably more diligent and serious than Lisa was.

She sighed and prepared to fold the letter back up, then noticed a short postscript on the back she must have missed the first time she'd read it.

_By the way, I heard from the old lady that there's a whole bunch of secret passages around Hanasakigawa! Piques your interest, doesn't it? Let's go explore some of them when I get back!_

It seemed like the kind of thing Hina would find exciting, Lisa thought, smiling to herself. Getting dragged around on one of Hina's adventures was always surprisingly fun—even when things seemed like they were starting to go disastrously, they had a way of working themselves out when Hina was around.

But she'd distracted herself for long enough, so, reluctantly, she turned her gaze back to the too-thorough discussion of train construction in her textbook. And, then, almost immediately afterwards, heard the door to the classroom open as two of her classmates entered.

The shy-looking girl with the silky black hair gave Lisa a reserved wave as she walked in, while the girl with the serious gaze and face strikingly similar to Hina's merely nodded in Lisa's direction.

 _Speak of the devil, huh?_ "Hi, Rinko! And you, too, Sayo."

Rinko smiled gently in Lisa's direction. "It's nice to see you."

"Pardon me asking," Sayo said, seemingly seeing no need for pleasantries, "but is that a letter from my sister?"

"It is, yeah." Lisa felt a vague discomfort rising in her chest. It wasn't that she disliked Hikawa Sayo, not exactly. They'd talked a few times, both in class and through Hina, but not enough for Lisa to form an opinion as concrete as that. It was just that Sayo was the embodiment of diligence, the kind of person who approached everything she did with a thorough dedication Lisa couldn't hope to match. That was borne out in their results, too—Sayo was notably better than Lisa was at both schoolwork and magic, a model student in every way. Whereas Lisa was sitting here, in the common room, looking for an excuse to slack off from her studies. It would make sense for her not to be viewed terribly favorably.

But, Lisa thought, despite the differences in their personalities, it didn't seem as though Sayo disliked her either, exactly. She could be strict, but there wasn't usually any particular displeasure or annoyance to her tone, just a firm conviction in how she believed people should act. Rinko, who knew Sayo a good bit better than Lisa did, had assured Lisa that Sayo was, in fact, a kind person; Lisa had yet to see that part of her come out, but it wasn't hard to imagine that it was in there somewhere. (Hina would, no doubt, have said the same thing, but when it came to Sayo Lisa knew that her opinion could hardly be trusted.)

"Did she happen to say anything, well, unusual?"

"More so than she always does? I guess she did mention that there were a lot of secret passages at Hanasakigawa—" Lisa cut herself off at seeing Sayo and Rinko exchange knowing glances. "Sorry, did I say something weird?"

"It's, um, not that," Rinko said. "It's just… she mentioned the same thing to Sayo, so…" She trailed off, seemingly unsure of how best to continue.

"Did you want me to explain it?" Sayo asked, turning to Rinko with an expression gentler than Lisa had been aware she could make. But, then again, Lisa couldn't imagine a person who could be harsh to someone as nice as Rinko.

Rinko shook her head. "I can do it myself," she said, and began to explain.

The Shirokanes, per her telling, were not a particularly powerful or prestigious magical family, nothing like the illustrious families of some of Hanasakigawa's more prominent students. But even so, they had a lengthy history they were, in their own way, proud of, exemplified by a ring they'd received many years ago in honor of their contributions to some long-defunct wizards' guild, which Rinko made clear had been a more or less priceless treasure. But at some point, that priceless treasure had found its way out of her family's hands.

"So, you're saying that you think this ring is at the school somewhere?" Lisa asked. "What happened to it, exactly?"

"My father… lost it when he was a student here, he said. He was trying to inspect its properties by looking in rare books when he took a wrong turn into a hidden chamber… and something chased him out when he was trying to figure out where he was… making him drop the ring. Even if he could find the place again, he said that he was too scared to try…"

"So that's why Hina mentioning the secret passages caught your notice." Lisa put a hand on her chin thoughtfully.

"We had all kind of given up on finding it again, but I thought that maybe… with this…" Rinko paused, then looked up at Lisa and Sayo. "I'd… like to look for it, if either of you are willing to help…"

Lisa glanced over in Sayo's direction, trying to gauge her reaction. Sayo and Rinko were on good terms, she knew, but nevertheless Sayo hardly seemed the type to want to go poking around hidden corners of the school, especially when it seemed like something the teachers might frown on.

But, somewhat surprisingly, the frown lifted from Sayo's face. "If it's that important to you," she said slowly, "I think that it's at least worth doing a little bit of investigation. There might be some unexpected benefits to the whole process."

Rinko beamed, and the two of them looked in Lisa's direction expectantly. It was probably worth genuinely thinking about whether or not she actually wanted to get involved in this sort of thing, but a glance at Rinko's eyes and her decision was made for her. Every time Rinko really wanted something, her eyes betrayed just how important it was to her, shimmering with a faint hope that Lisa couldn't bring herself to crush.

"I guess it's sort of like something out of one of those mysteries you read, isn't it?" she said, smiling. "I don't mind looking into it a little more, no."

Rinko's smile widened, and Lisa sighed internally. It was a good thing Rinko didn't have a manipulative bone in her body, she thought wryly. Who knew what would happen if she did.

"If that's decided, where would you suggest we start?" Sayo asked, frowning slightly.

"I was thinking that it might, um, be a good idea to talk to our history teacher, since he's been here for a really long time. But doing it by myself is a little bit…"

"That does seem like a good idea. I don't mind going with you if it makes talking easier," Lisa said, smiling in Rinko's direction. Rinko's face, which had acquired a trace of gloom, suddenly perked up again.

"In that case, there are a few books I picked up from the library I'd like to look through in case they have any pertinent information." Sayo grabbed a volume from her bag— _Mid-Century School Architecture_ , the title read—and began to flip through its pages. That was a role Lisa was glad she'd been spared.

She and Rinko left Sayo to her reading and headed off in the direction of their history teacher's office, the sound of their shoes echoing throughout the large stone hallway. Stone had been the building material of choice when Hanasakigawa had been constructed, but these days, while certainly impressive, the architecture came off as a little cold and imposing, particularly when sun wasn't out.

By contrast, as they knocked on the door they were looking for and were invited in, their history teacher's office gave off a warm, relaxing atmosphere. Books filled the bookshelves on the walls and overflowed into piles on the floor and their teacher's desk, and a couple of lamps glowed gently over the room, which felt old in a comfortable way, like a pair of well-made shoes that had long since been broken in but had yet to look worse for wear.

As they stepped in, a pair of chairs scooted themselves over towards the desk, inviting Lisa and Rinko to take a seat. Glancing at them over his small reading glasses, their teacher spoke.

"Miss Imai, Miss Shirokane. How may I help you?"

"Um, well, we were hoping we could ask you a question. There's a bit of a rumor going around about secret passages hidden within Hanasakigawa—do you know if there's any credibility to it?"

Their teacher sighed, in that way he frequently did when some student showed a seeming lack of respect for history. "I've gotten that question many times over the years, and the answer is never what students want it to be. There are a handful of what you might call hidden passageways that were used during the school's construction, but they were almost all covered over when construction was finished. And even if there were such a passage, it wouldn't have anything particularly interesting in it."

"This… maybe sounds a little silly… but there's not any sorts of magical creatures guarding anything within the school, then, right…?"

"I have a feeling," he said, "that if I say no to that question you'll start poking your noses around places you shouldn't. There aren't any secret passages, per se, but that doesn't mean you can't get yourself into trouble. Do be careful."

Rinko and Lisa nodded obediently, prompting a sigh from their teacher. "In any case, was that all?"

"I, um, think that's it," Lisa said, glancing towards Rinko for confirmation. "Thanks very much for your help!"

"You're welcome. Hopefully this ignites some interest within you, or within other students, to learn more about the school's history. Preferably not by investigating it yourself."

They each gave him a light bow and left the office to return to the classroom. Lisa couldn't quite tell if the conversation had made Rinko more or less excited about their investigation of the situation.

"Hidden passages, huh," she said, well aware that this was not what she had been supposed to take away from their discussion. "He didn't seem to think they were really a thing, but this seems like the kind of place that might have all kinds of secrets, don't you think? Like paintings that are actually doors, and whatnot. It's kind of made me want to try and look for something…"

Rinko giggled softly. "You'd better not… let him hear that. We'd definitely get lectured…"

But after a second, her face clouded over again, as though something about the situation was worrying her. Lisa considered poking further into it, but figured that it could at least wait until Sayo heard what they had to say.

"I see," Sayo said, frowning. "There's no mention of the construction of secret doors or passageways in this volume either, which lines up with what you've said."

"But I don't think Hina would send us faulty information. She seems to always know when people are lying, somehow."

"You're right. It's a bit of a difficult situation, but I think it's much too early to give up. Do we have any other leads?" Sayo turned to Rinko. "Did your father happen to know anything about where this hidden room might be?"

"He said… he had no idea about how he ended up there. Almost as though some magic had been used to hide the location of the entrance…"

"I suppose it makes sense that these might not be ordinary hidden rooms." Sayo frowned again. At first Lisa had thought that that expression meant that Sayo was upset about something, but maybe it was just the way she looked when she was thinking deeply.

"Do you think talking to Chisato might help?" Lisa suggested. "If anyone can find out this kind of information, it'd be her, right?"

Sayo grimaced, this time a definite expression of displeasure. "You might be right, although I'm loath to actually ask her for help. The two of you would probably have a little more luck."

"What do you think, Rinko?"

"It's worth trying, at the very least…" Once again, Lisa found herself enthralled by Rinko's eyes, which were, even now, shining with a determined light.

The kind of determination she knew she was incapable of producing herself.

"Secrets, hmm," said the owner of a different pair of violet eyes, these sharper and more piercing than Rinko's. Rinko and Lisa were sitting next to each other on the bed opposite from Chisato's, waiting as she thought about the story they'd just told her. Her dorm room had a pleasant, feminine, pastel-colored vibe to its decorations, the kind that evoked Chisato's pale blond hair if not those hard, sharp eyes.

Hina was particularly fond of Chisato, for reasons Lisa remained unsure of. Chisato wasn't the sort to make friends, except maybe with Kanon, who was diligently working on something at the desk in the back, and she was far from easy to talk to. Like glass, Lisa thought, smooth and perfectly reflective, but dangerously sharp when chipped or broken. The length of time they'd known each other—a result of family ties—seemed to stop Chisato from wielding that dangerous part of her to bear against Lisa, which Lisa was grateful for. Not that she really had any idea exactly where she stood with Chisato these days.

Because no matter what the situation was, she had no idea what Chisato was really thinking.

"I'll see what exactly I can find. There should be, if I remember correctly, an old map of the school with various hidden doors and passageways labeled in existence somewhere. I might be able to procure it, or a copy of it… if you're able to give me something of equal value in exchange."

"Chisato…" A soft voice came from the corner of the room. Kanon had paused her work and was looking in their direction, brushing her light blue hair out of the way of her slightly disappointed gaze.

Chisato glanced back in her roommate's direction and mouthed a couple of words, then turned back to Lisa and Rinko with a smile and a cough. "What I meant to say was that I'd be happy to do both of you a favor. I'm sorry, being around certain types of people for this many years has left me with some habits it's difficult to break. You understand what I'm talking about, don't you, Lisa?"

Lisa laughed uncomfortably. She'd been to enough fancy functions, though likely nowhere near as many as Chisato had, to have a good idea of the kind of person Chisato was talking about.

"Thank you, um, very much!" Rinko said, looking extremely grateful.

"…You're welcome, I suppose." Chisato seemed a little bit unsure of how to handle Rinko, which made a faint grin rise to Lisa's lips. This kind of sincerity was almost certainly not something Chisato was used to being faced with.

But, really, it wasn't bad, sincerity. Genuine, straightforward people—Lisa couldn't help but find herself admiring them. Even though admitting that in the wrong company would no doubt get her scoffed at.

****

* * *

Chisato had delivered the map, as promised, late in the evening about a week later, and three of them were currently poring over it in Sayo and Rinko's dorm room, trying to make sense of the faded lines and messy handwriting.

Or, at least, they _had_ been poring over it—at the moment, Rinko was collapsed against her bed, having fallen asleep in the midst of looking up dates in an old school yearbook. Lisa smiled softly at the sight, then looked over at Sayo, who was once more making a difficult face.

"You figure anything out, Sayo?"

"…I think we should be able to locate the entrances to some of these passages. Although that's no guarantee that we'll actually be able to get in—it's entirely possible they may be locked in some manner."

"Well, it's a start, at least, isn't it?"

"I do wish we had some more clues to go off of. It feels in some respects as though we're just guessing blindly about where this ring might be, which may not end up being a productive course of action."

"Yeah. It's a little bit of a tricky thing she wants our help with, isn't it? Not that I'm complaining, really, but…"

There was a brief silence, and then Lisa spoke up again. "Sayo, I've been meaning to ask you this for a while, but… why exactly did you agree to help? It doesn't really, um, fit with my image of you, you know? I get that you're friends with Rinko and all, but still…"

Sayo sighed, and for a second Lisa thought that she might have upset her classmate. But Sayo's voice, when she spoke, seemed more resigned than it did annoyed.

"It's true that I did want to help Rinko. But you're also correct in that tramping around the school on what might end up being a wild goose chase is not how I would prefer to spend my time. What ended up tipping the scales was…" She trailed off, seemingly thinking of how best to continue.

"Lisa, do you remember how we were doing the light-producing exercise in class last week?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, that. What about it?" The exercise Sayo was talking about was a magic practice tool designed to help students with fine control of their magical abilities through the creation of small points of light, which could then be made to dance around or be arranged in various patterns. Lisa greatly preferred doing this sort of thing to brute force tasks like lifting heavy objects, although she was of course nowhere near as good at either as Sayo was.

"You mentioned that my magic looked like it could have been a picture in a textbook."

"Yeah, I guess I did…" Lisa noticed Sayo's displeased expression and hurriedly tried to soothe her. "But I didn't mean anything bad by it! Just that the quality of your lights, and the way you moved them, were really polished, that's all!"

"It's fine. I know you didn't have bad intentions. But I think there was more truth to your words than you perhaps knew there was. After all, I'm the kind of person who's very good at replicating pictures in a textbook. No more, and no less."

Lisa was silent for a second, unsure of how best to respond, and Sayo continued. "I've been thinking, though, lately, that I want to try and find something of my own, that isn't just a copy of something someone else has already done. So I wondered if there might not be some sort of inspiration to be found in doing this sort of investigation. If there's a real Hikawa Sayo out there somewhere… I'd like to find her, I think."

In that moment, a vaguely embarrassed expression on her face, Sayo suddenly seemed to Lisa as though she were shining with light.

"I think that's… really impressive, Sayo. Wanting to change yourself for the better like that."

"Do you really?" Sayo looked in Lisa's direction, clearly surprised by her response. "I think it's only natural, though, when you're unsatisfied with where you currently are."

"Feeling unsatisfied and taking action to do something about it are two different things, I think!"

That much, Lisa knew as well as anybody. After all, no matter how empty, how shallow a person she knew herself to be, not even once had she made a concerted effort to change that.

Hikawa Sayo and Imai Lisa were, it seemed, fundamentally different in that regard.

"If you say so." The skepticism in Sayo's tone was obvious.

"It's true! So if there's anything I can do to help you, just tell me. Like, for example, your room's a little bit bare, so maybe it'd be nice to have some decorations that made it feel more like a space made for _you_ —I know a store downtown where you could pick some stuff up—"

At Sayo's soft laughter, Lisa abruptly cut herself off. Had she gone too far?

But Sayo's words were kind, kinder than she'd ever imagined the other girl could be. "Thank you very much. I, well, wasn't exactly expecting that kind of response to me, but your words are heartening, Lisa."

"You're very welcome! The help's only if you want it, so if you think I'm being too pushy or anything, it's fine to reject it."

"I'm not so rude as to reject someone going out of their way to be kind to me."

At the faint smile that Sayo gave her along with those words, Lisa felt something in her chest stir again. She and Sayo were different. That much this conversation had made clear.

But like a moth drawn to a light, she felt that there was something pulling her towards Sayo. Even if she herself couldn't change, being around someone who was trying her best to do so—maybe that was, in itself, a small salvation.

* * *

Their investigation ran into its first hurdle a couple of days later, when, in search of a cellar marked on their map that seemed easy to locate, they found in its place a large, glass building.

"The greenhouse, huh…" Lisa said, stating the obvious. "Do we, um, know exactly when this map is from?"

"Sometime before this building was built, at the very least, it seems." Sayo was frowning again. "It's possible that the cellar is still present even despite the building having been built over it, but it seems unlikely that Rinko's father would have run into it if the building was here when he was. If we don't know those dates, then our efforts might be better spent elsewhere."

"Yeah, that makes sense. We picked this spot because it seemed like somewhere easy to run into by accident, but if it was hidden by the greenhouse all this time, it might not be a good choice…" Lisa leaned against the outside of the glass walls as the three of them pondered their next move.

"I… could go check on the dates. There's, um, a fairly recent book talking about the construction of Hanasakigawa in the library that… might be useful…"

"I guess our other option would be to search another location today instead, but this seems fine too. What do you think, Sayo?"

"We _are_ already here, so it makes some degree of sense to search here if possible. Do you think it'll take you long to find the dates, Rinko?"

"Probably, not very long…"

"Then let's wait for that information and, if it turns out this is an unlikely place, search somewhere else. I think we should have enough time for that."

With that, Rinko hurried off towards the library, leaving Sayo and Lisa by themselves again.

"Want to look inside a little bit?" Lisa asked.

"Were we not waiting precisely so we could avoid having to do that?"

"We don't have to search for anything in particular. It's just, you know, we've got some time to kill, right? Plus, the greenhouse is just an interesting place to look around."

"You've been in here before?" Sayo asked, somewhat reluctantly following Lisa into the heated interior.

"Sometimes I need to come here to get some ingredients for something I'm making. Salves for the infirmary, or just some herbal concoction for one of my friends… I guess you could call it a hobby of mine."

"I see. That's a useful skill to have."

"You think so? It's nothing special, I promise. I'm sure you're able to do a lot of things that're more impressive."

"That's not really the point, is it? I think it's a unique thing to be able to do. I'd like to see you at work some time—I have the feeling I'd learn something."

They really weren't very similar people at all, but there was something about the blunt way Sayo said what she felt that reminded Lisa of Hina. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, but getting praised this much made Lisa feel vaguely embarrassed.

"That's real nice of you to say! Maybe I'll show you sometime."

Sayo seemed as though she was about to say something else, but Lisa hurriedly changed the subject. "So anyway, where's this cellar supposed to be in here? We might as well see if it's easy to find, just in case."

"Give me a second to make sure I have the orientation correct," Sayo said, squinting at the map in her hands. As she did so, Lisa took a look around them at the greenhouse.

It wasn't an enormous place, not like some of the ones she'd heard about, but it was well-sized enough for the school, with most every herb she'd ever used (and plenty more she hadn't) growing somewhere within its walls. Not quite wild and untamed, but more so than the rest of the occasionally too well-groomed school grounds. She found it somehow comforting, not least because of the warmth it gave off during the cold months.

"It should be over in this direction, I believe." Sayo began walking to the right of the entrance, near the greenhouse's closest corner, and Lisa followed, keeping an eye on the ground for anything that looked suspicious.

…They did not, it turned out, have to look very hard. The large pot some sort of bright-leafed tropical plant was growing in close to the entrance seemed to somewhat obviously be at a lower level than the surrounding pots, and after some concentration and their combined effort, they dragged the pot out of the way, revealing a a worn, wooden cellar door at the bottom of a shallow hole.

It gave Lisa a bit of an ominous feeling, looking at it. Their teacher had told them not to pry into matters they shouldn't, and it was entirely possible this was one of those matters. Or maybe she was just feeling spooked for no good reason.

"Do you think it's worth taking a look inside? Just real quick, in case the ring's sitting right there or something."

"I think we should probably wait for Rinko to return before attempting any kind of lengthy search, but if it's a small cellar or obviously has nothing in it a quick look might be fine." Sayo made to reach for the handle, but Lisa put a hand on her shoulder before she could.

"Let's do it from a distance, just in case."

"…I suppose it doesn't hurt to be careful."

The two of them backed up a couple of feet, then Sayo, a look of concentration on her face, slowly lifted the door—

—and something burst out of it, as though it had been lying in wait for someone to open the door, thorny vines flowing out of the cellar like an endless spool of thread. Before they even had time to realize what was going on, they were surrounded.

A nauseous feeling grew in Lisa's stomach as she surveyed their situation. From the cellar entrance, a woody, painfully spiky vine had appeared, cutting off their immediate access to the door of the greenhouse. The other, more roundabout paths to the exit were blocked off by the same vine, which had wound itself across the greenhouse so as to encircle them. At its end lay one large, blood-red flower, its dark center looking unnervingly like a single eye staring them down. Sayo took a step forward, tentatively, and then stepped back as the vine twitched threateningly.

"If only I could get a little closer to it…" she said softly. "At this distance, I don't think anything we could do with magic would cause too much damage. But it'll definitely aim for us if I try and close in."

Lisa's nausea worsened. Sayo was kind of amazing, she thought, in her ability to rationally consider the situation. This was, again, the difference between the two of them, wasn't it—the way Sayo rose to the challenge while Lisa retreated within herself, the way Sayo considered escape strategies while Lisa wallowed in her own mediocrity.

In this situation, she was no better than dead weight.

"Rinko should show up eventually. I think we'd be best off waiting until she does—it might be possible to escape, but not without one of us getting hurt. If our hand is forced, we can make a move, but I'd rather not if we don't have to. Unless you have some sort of plan?"

Just waiting to be saved… it really didn't sit right with Lisa. In the first place, it had been her suggestion to look through the greenhouse, and her failure to mention that she'd had a bad feeling about the cellar door. She at least wanted to do something so that this day didn't end up as a parade of Imai Lisa's bad decisions and failures to act in important moments.

Maybe then, she'd be able to acquire some of that shining light that gathered around Sayo.

"I… might have an idea," she said, glancing at the equipment rack behind her. Sayo would definitely protest if Lisa told her what she had in mind, so she'd have to act fast.

"What is it?" Sayo asked, cocking her head to the side.

Lisa slowly shuffled backwards, the vine making a rustling, creaking noise as it looked… well, seemed like it looked in Lisa's direction. A wrinkle appeared in Sayo's brow, and as she seemed about to say something Lisa made her move. She'd had her eye on the sturdy pair of gardening shears on the rack for a while and, barely thinking about what it was she was doing, grabbed them and ran towards the cellar door.

"Sayo! Distract it!" she yelled, and she heard her classmate curse from behind her before an explosion of light—a lot like the small, dancing points they'd been talking about earlier, but more violent, uncontrolled—seemingly dazed the vine for a second.

It took Lisa no time at all to reach the cellar door, at which point she placed the shears around the vine and began to squeeze them closed with both of her arms, doing her best to support her grip strength with magic. It was tougher than she'd thought it would be given its thickness, though maybe that made sense considering it was obviously far from an ordinary plant.

Slowly, surely, she could feel the wood giving way to the shears, blood pumping loudly through her veins as she tried to will the plant to just collapse, to let the two of them escape.

"Lisa!" Sayo yelled, and she realized that she hadn't been fast enough, that the time Sayo had bought for her hadn't turned out to be sufficient for what she'd needed to do. The blood-red flower was headed this way—it was _fast_ —and it was all Lisa could do to shift her grip on the shears from two hands to one and hold up her right hand to protect her face.

There was a wave of pain as she assumed it had hit her arm, its petals, surprisingly soft given the rest of it, touching her face, but she didn't have the time to think about that, she had to try and finish the job even though with one arm she had a lot less power at her disposal.

Then she felt something warm cover her from behind, Sayo's head next to hers as the other girl laid her hand over Lisa's and pressed as hard as she could, their combined power managing to, somehow, snap the vine in two. The flower, which had been rearing up for another strike, fell limply to the ground, convulsing as it did so but, after a second, ceasing all movement. The other half of the plant vanished back into the cellar, either dead or simply retreating. Lisa wasn't inclined to find out which it was.

She slumped back into Sayo's arms. As the adrenaline slowly left her system, she realized that god, her arm really fucking hurt, didn't it. She almost didn't want to look at it.

"Why did you—I asked if you had a plan, but not this sort of plan! What exactly did you think you were doing? What if its thorns were poisoned? What was your plan in that case?" Sayo was angry—that Lisa had expected—but there was no real bite to her anger. Instead, she sounded like she was about to cry.

 _Ah. So that's what you meant when you said she was nice, Rinko._ Lisa felt a little bad for making Sayo, this strict, serious, but clearly deeply kind girl, upset. But she'd have felt a lot worse if it had been Sayo who'd gotten hurt. So as painful as this was, it was definitely preferable to the alternative.

"I was the one who got us into this mess, so I figured I'd get us out of it. And I did, so it's all good, right?"

"It's not like I would have blamed you for any of this. I went along with it, and I was the one who opened the door, anyway. That's no excuse for getting yourself hurt like that!"

You _might not have blamed me, Sayo, but I definitely would have blamed myself. And that's what really matters in the end, isn't it?_ Despite herself, Lisa could feel a stupid grin forming on her face. She'd done something—even if Sayo called it stupid and reckless—that she felt like she could be proud of. She'd been _helpful_. That made her, more than anything else, happy.

Her gaze traveled to her right arm, and then immediately jerked away, but not before the image of the line of thorns embedded into her flesh had been seared into her memory.

 _If those thorns were poisonous, it'll definitely be a pain, won't it_ , she thought idly.

* * *

Hours later, she was back in her room, arm thoroughly bandaged, pain reduced to a dull throb by the soothing properties of the infirmary's salves. Sayo was sitting on a chair next to her bed, still looking exceedingly worried.

"You should really get some more sleep. The teacher at the infirmary said it was a weak poison, but you still need time to recover. Rinko said she'd go grab some food from the cafeteria for you to eat when you wake up."

"Oh, she did? I'll have to thank her later… I guess I've really caused everyone a lot of trouble with all of this, haven't I? Rinko looked like she was about to die of guilt when she showed up."

"It'd help us all out if you weren't this reckless again. But for now, rest." She made to get up, but Lisa grabbed her hand with her still-functioning one.

"…Sayo."

"What is it?"

"Stay with me for a little bit longer?"

Sayo looked at her, sighed, and then sat back down. "You really keep on surprising me, don't you. I got the impression from Hina you were the sort of person who thinks about other people before yourself, like a level-headed older sister. But you're actually a lot more reckless, selfish, and needy, aren't you?"

"It's the poison. It makes me want human company." Lisa tried her best to keep a straight face while she said that, but a bit of a grin seeped through.

"You're hopeless." Sayo's tone was vaguely disgusted, but she made no move to let go of Lisa's hand, and a faint smile played about her lips.

_You're the one who keeps on surprising me, you know. You could scold me, reject me, leave me for someone else to take care of. But you don't. You listen to my selfish requests._

_If you keep doing that… it's just going to make me want more, you know?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trying some new things here, so i'd appreciate feedback on how well you think the story works! would like to update every other week as long as i have time/motivation to do so


	2. Chapter 2

"What kind of a person… is Lisa?" Rinko repeated back, cocking her head to the side. "I think… you probably have a good idea of what she's like already. She's very, um, kind, and gets along well with everyone, even people like me who aren't very good at talking to others…" She smiled somewhat awkwardly, a hint of the tired, guilty expression she'd shown Sayo at the greenhouse the other day slipping through. "I do wish, though… sometimes… that she wouldn't put other people in front of herself quite so much. It's, um, a good trait, of course… but sometimes…" Rinko trailed off.

"I suppose the events of the other day were a good example of what you're talking about."

Rinko nodded vigorously. "She did it… for my sake, more or less, so I'm happy… I'm happy, but still…"

"I think I understand where you're coming from." Sayo cleared her throat. "In any case, thank you. I realize it was a bit of a strange question to ask."

"Not at all," Rinko said, smiling more genuinely this time. "You've both been very nice to me, so I'm happy to see that you're getting along… I wasn't sure if the two of you would like each other, but it's nice that… you've gotten closer."

"…Maybe we have."

Pleased look still on her face, Rinko continued. "By the way… are you making progress on the incantation you asked me about…?"

"Incantation…? Oh, that." Sayo grimaced, more to hide her embarrassment than anything else. "It's, well, progressing about as well as could be expected."

That response seemed to satisfy Rinko, and she waved and walked off down the corridor, leaving Sayo alone. Leaning against the stone wall, she let out a sigh.

Something about their conversation still didn't sit right with her. Kind, self-sacrificing, sociable; on the surface, all of those felt like the right adjectives to describe Imai Lisa. It was tempting to think that maybe she was exactly as she appeared.

But Sayo had gotten enough glimpses to suspect otherwise. The obviously fake way Lisa smiled when the conversation trended in a direction she found uncomfortable. That brash, foolish smile she'd had on her face after they'd finally cut down the vine in the greenhouse. And most memorably, the selfish, spoiled side she'd showed Sayo after getting out of the infirmary, the one that seemed almost totally at odds with Rinko and Hina's descriptions of her.

Imai Lisa, it seemed, had more masks than Sayo had originally thought.

The word "mask" inevitably led her to think about Chisato, whose utter lack of sincerity had caused her and Sayo to clash on multiple occasions. Sayo was, according to Chisato, a naive girl who only knew how to follow rules and not how to actually talk to people. Which might, on some level, have been true, but to Sayo that was much preferable to becoming so jaded she lost all of her principles.

Perhaps it was that naivete that led her to still trust Lisa, even if Sayo had no idea which of her classmate's faces was genuine. She reached in her skirt pocket and pulled out a small pouch tied with a pink ribbon. _As thanks for looking after me,_ Lisa had said. A mix of herbs—the only one Sayo was particularly familiar with was chamomile—that if brewed was theoretically supposed to reduce stress. The strength of the recipe, according to Lisa, depended greatly on the skill of the person preparing it; she'd noted that the way she'd prepared it, it was hardly more efficacious than an ordinary cup of tea. How much of that was true and how much was self-effacement Sayo was uncertain. Lisa seemed to have a tendency to underestimate—and, occasionally, overestimate—her own abilities.

Her mind drifted back to the incantation Rinko had mentioned earlier. She'd been impressively useless in their encounter with the plant, when she really thought about it. If only she'd been able to act a little bit faster, to do a little bit more, then maybe Lisa could have avoided injury. There was no guarantee they'd end up in a similar situation again, but if they did, Sayo didn't want to be stuck in the same position.

Lightly concentrating, she made a thin, faintly shimmering barrier appear above her head. It wasn't much of a shield in terms of area or strength, but if there did come a time when she needed protection, it was better than nothing.

Whether Lisa would appreciate what Sayo was trying to do, it was difficult to say. But while Sayo had primarily had her classmate's safety in mind when she'd first started studying this sort of magic, she couldn't deny that it would be, well, nice, if she were able to do something for Lisa. To once again have that warm smile of thanks directed her way.

It was a pleasant feeling, it turned out, thinking that you'd done something worthy of gratitude.

* * *

The search for Rinko's ring had been put on hold while Lisa recovered, which meant that Sayo, having nothing particular to occupy her time on their day off from classes, was headed to the library for some studying. A boring way to spend one's free time, she had the feeling her classmates would say, but Sayo had never found the act of learning in itself tedious, especially not when she was learning something with practical application to her life.

But as she prepared to descend the staircase to the lower level of the dormitory, a voice called out to her, more exuberantly than she could remember her name having been called in quite some time.

"Sayo!"

She turned and looked back at the brown-haired girl cheerfully waving in her direction. The weather was gradually turning warmer, but Lisa was still wearing a cardigan over her uniform, a fact that did not escape Sayo's notice.

"Lisa. How are you feeling?"

"A lot better! Though my arm still looks pretty ugly, and I'm not supposed to do anything strenuous with it for a while yet."

"That's good to hear."

"But I've been cooped up for long enough that I'm looking forward to getting out and going somewhere. What do you say? Want to take a bit of a walk with me?"

Sayo blinked for a second, unable to fully hide her surprise. She had, she supposed, no strong resistance to going along with Lisa, but she was not exactly used to people actively asking to spend time with her, particularly ones who seemed to have as many other friends as Lisa did.

Lisa seemed to interpret Sayo's hesitation as an expression of displeasure, and smiled somewhat awkwardly. "I mean, if you've got something already planned, that's fine. I don't mind going by myself!"

Seeing Lisa make to turn around and head the other direction, Sayo hurriedly tried to correct her classmate's misconception. "No, that's not the case, actually, I don't have any other plans for today. I was just a little surprised that you invited me, but, well, not in a _bad_ way, it was the kind of invitation I was happy to receive—"

Lisa let out a bright peal of laughter, and Sayo abruptly stopped talking. Her words had sounded a lot calmer and more rational in her head, but when actually given voice to they'd come off as awfully flustered.

"I really got the wrong idea about you, didn't I?" she said, her expression brightening. "You look all serious and scary, but really, you're a nice girl who's just a little bit awkward. And much cuter than I expected, too!"

Sayo could feel her face heating up faintly, but, mercifully, Lisa didn't pursue that line any further. "Well, want to go, then?" she continued. "I was thinking we could go to the east edge of the grounds—the atmosphere over there's real nice!"

"I… don't have any objections," Sayo replied, taking a deep breath. Something about being with Lisa made her faintly nervous, though, as she'd mentioned earlier, it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. Just one she was unused to.

As was the feeling of Lisa linking her left arm with Sayo's right.

The dormitory was on the western edge of Hanasakigawa's grounds, closely bordering the road out into the city proper. It took about twenty minutes to walk all the way to the eastern edge, which ran up against a dense set of woods that covered a fairly large area to the east. What exactly was in those woods, no one seemed to be sure; there had been rumors and legends in the past about wild beasts and suspicious rituals, but Sayo wasn't certain which of those were actually worth paying attention to.

In any case, it was a fairly picturesque place. The woods themselves were more the kind of location Sayo's sister might enjoy than somewhere Sayo would choose to spend time in, but the edge of the grounds was slightly calmer and slightly more well-kept. Not as comfortable as a well-stocked library, perhaps, but still pleasant.

Lisa seemed somewhat more enamored. Come to think of it, she'd mentioned that she'd spent a lot of time in the greenhouse, so perhaps she was fond of these sorts of natural spaces. That would mark one reason why she and Hina seemed to get along so well.

"Look, Sayo! A fish pond! I didn't know there was something like this on—" Lisa ended her sentence abruptly, clearly having been taken by surprise. Curious, Sayo peered over into the pond, the lithe movements of the fish clearly visible in the limpid water. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but after a second she realized what Lisa had.

Rather than living, breathing, fish, these were magical constructs, likely crafted out of stone, but skillfully manipulated so as to appear strikingly similar to the real thing. Whoever had created them had truly had an admirable level of skill, Sayo thought, more than a little in awe.

"They're amazing, don't you think?" she asked, looking in Lisa's direction.

But it seemed like Lisa's surprise had come from a somewhat different emotion than Sayo's had. "Don't get me wrong, you're right that these are really pretty," she said, a complicated expression on her face. "It's just…"

"Just what?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I guess I just think real fish are cuter, that's all!" She grinned. "Do you think we'll be able to make something this good someday?"

Sayo frowned for a second, fairly sure her question had been evaded, but decided not to pursue it any further. "I don't think any of us are close to that level. But that isn't to say it's impossible to reach, just that more work is going to end up being required."

Lisa laughed. "Dedicated as always, huh? Well, I'm sure you'll get there if you want to, Sayo."

"That… would be nice, yes." Sayo remained still, continuing to stare at the fish. At first, she'd thought that they were just following a set pattern, swimming back and forth, but upon further inspection, if there was a pattern, it was significantly more complicated—whether or not it actually mimicked that of real fish, she didn't know enough to tell, but it certainly was beautiful.

These fish, surely, were filled with the individual traits and particular quirks of their creator. No one else could have crafted them in this particular way; they resembled real fish, but were distinctly unreal in certain ways that only heightened their appeal. It was tempting to look here for inspiration, but even if she were to one day possess the skill to recreate this sort of sculpture, would she really be able to say the result contained something truly her own, and not just a pale shadow of someone else's individuality?

"You're thinking about something difficult again, aren't you?" Lisa asked, rubbing her thumb across Sayo's forehead as though to smooth out its wrinkles. "Need me to mix you some more of those herbs from the other day?"

It was an appealing suggestion, certainly. But then Sayo's mind flashed back to the number of troubled expressions she'd seen Lisa make over the course of the past few days, and she couldn't help but wonder which of them really needed whatever calming effect the herbs might have.

"If you… wouldn't mind, would you like to brew them together?"

Lisa looked somewhat taken aback, and Sayo wondered for a second if she'd been too forward. Had Lisa just invited her out out of sheer convenience, and not due to any closing of the distance between them?

But after a second, Lisa smiled broadly, the warmth of her smile almost dazzling Sayo. "That sounds great! I was actually looking for an excuse to spend a bit more time together, to be honest, but I didn't want it to feel like I was pushing too much on to you…"

"Not at all," Sayo mumbled, feeling herself blushing again. Being around Lisa made her feel distinctly unsettled much of the time, as though her normally calm emotions refused to remain under her control. It was… not something she was used to feeling. She liked being around Lisa, that she couldn't deny, but she wasn't entirely certain she liked the person she became when the two of them were together.

Lisa laughed again, running her hand down Sayo's cheek this time. "I feel like I get to see new sides of you every time we talk. It's cute!"

"…Was there somewhere else you wanted to go or was this it?"

"Aww, don't sulk. Let's walk around this area a little bit more!"

Sayo sighed, but nevertheless obediently followed along after Lisa, the two of them gradually moving towards the border between the school and the woods. Where the territory of one ended and the other began was unclear just by looking, but both of them could feel the faintly crackling energy that marked the magical barrier separating Hanasakigawa from the outside world, designed to protect against a wide range of magical trespasses.

"You think we can slip out this way?" Lisa asked, a mischievous look on her face.

"No." Normally, Sayo might have been a little more willing to at least play along, but the events of the other day and the vaguely uneasy atmosphere—the previously cloudless sky was starting to turn gray—made her reject Lisa perhaps a little more strongly than she'd meant to.

"I guess I'm supposed to be recovering, huh, so it'd be best if I—wait, what was that?" Lisa cut off her sentence partway through, looking at their surroundings curiously.

To Sayo, it seemed there was nothing particularly notable around them other than the gradually thickening trees. "Is something the matter?"

"I thought I saw something flash past us, but maybe it was just my imagination."

Glancing around again, Sayo caught a glimpse of a head of dark red hair through the trees. "Perhaps you just happened to notice those girls walking past," she said, nudging her head in the direction of the two girls standing a distance to their left, having some conversation of sorts.

"Could be," Lisa replied, in a way that suggested she was far from convinced. "I didn't notice that there was anyone else out here, though. We've gotten a little bit off the beaten path, haven't we?"

Sayo had opened her mouth to respond to Lisa's comment when she was distracted by the red-haired girl vigorously waving in their direction. She'd assumed—it was a fairly logical assumption, most of the time—that it was Lisa who was the target of the attention, but the girl's broad grin when she made eye contact with Sayo suggested otherwise.

…Now that she thought about it, maybe they had met before. A couple of new students, asking her for advice, which she'd given without hesitation. It wasn't often that people approached her, despite her being more than willing to help out, which perhaps helped explain why these girls had stuck in her memory.

"Friends of yours?" Lisa asked, clearly curious, as the red-haired girl and her companion closed the distance between them.

"I don't know that I would call us friends, exactly," Sayo responded. "I just happened to answer a few of their questions and guide them in the right direction when the new term started."

"And thanks very much for that, again, Sayo!" the red-haired girl, clearly now within earshot, said cheerfully. "It's kind of a confusing place, this school, so I was happy to find someone who really knew what they were doing." She inclined her head slightly in Lisa's direction. "I'm Udagawa Tomoe. And this is Yamabuki Saaya. It's nice to meet you."

The girl to Tomoe's left—Saaya—nodded as well, her ponytail, bound up by an eye-catching ribbon, bobbing as she did so. "It's a lot less, well, grand, where we're from, so I wasn't sure if we'd have trouble acclimating, but people have been nicer than I expected."

"That's good to hear! I don't know that everyone here is nice, but a lot of people are willing to help. You can always ask me—I'm Imai Lisa, by the way—or this one for help if you need anything." Lisa punched Sayo's shoulder lightly. "She looks a little scary, but I promise she's really a softie."

"Was that really called for?" Sayo asked, but only received a grin in response. Even if she were as intimidating as Lisa had suggested, Tomoe had enough of a height advantage on her that she suspected the effect would be largely negated.

"It was a nice day out," Tomoe continued, "so we thought we might explore a bit more of the grounds. Gotten a bit gloomy here all of a sudden, though."

As Tomoe finished saying that, Sayo saw, out of the corner of her eye, something flash past them. She quickly looked back towards Lisa, who nodded in confirmation, looking uneasy.

"It might be best if we headed back," Sayo said, grimacing.

"I think so too," Saaya replied, seemingly somewhat tentative about addressing an older student, "but, um, which way is 'back,' exactly?"

Sayo turned around, prepared to use the eastern tower as a landmark to aim for, before realizing what Saaya had and feeling her heart sink.

Around fifteen feet in front of her, the landscape had vanished into a thick, white fog, out of which not even a shadow of a building was visible.

"This doesn't seem too good," Tomoe said, scratching her head in bemusement. "I didn't think the weather around her was quite this bad, usually…"

 _That's because it isn't_ , Sayo thought, but she refrained from putting that sentiment to words. There was no use in frightening people if there wasn't a clear need to.

"Can the two of you sense the magic barrier separating the school from the woods?" she asked. It was faint, in their current location, but she could feel it pulsing if she concentrated.

"It's a little bit difficult to make out now, but I did notice it was there a little bit earlier." Saaya closed her eyes in what Sayo assumed was an attempt to focus. The contrast between her smooth expression and Tomoe's scrunched-up one would have been amusing had the situation been different.

"Let's move a little closer, then. But you understand what I'm thinking, don't you? We may have limited visibility, but if we keep following the barrier long enough, it should eventually take us back to the main part of the grounds."

"Oh!" Tomoe's eyes lit up. "That is a good idea. I feel like if I'd been by myself I would've just tried to guess the right direction and ended up hopelessly lost."

As they walked towards the barrier, the pulsing feeling of powerful magic growing stronger in Sayo's head, Lisa came up next to her, nudging Sayo with her shoulder and grinning. "You sure seem awfully reliable in this situation, Sayo. Is this the power of being an older sister?"

"I'm not sure I'm doing anything out of the ordinary." Certainly, she'd gotten lost with her younger sister before, but Hina only occasionally listened to what Sayo told her to do anyway. That, and no matter what sort of trouble she found herself in, Hina had a habit of making her way out of it unscathed. So this felt like a fairly different sort of scenario.

Following the feeling of magic over their own eyes was an unusual sensation, and there was more than a little bit of stumbling over roots and rocks in the way (Sayo heard Lisa's muffled laughter from behind her after banging her forehead into a low-hanging branch). The atmosphere wasn't light, exactly, given that they were in an unfamiliar and somewhat uncomfortable situation, but neither was it oppressively heavy.

But if there was any looseness in the tension surrounding the four of them, it tightened right up when they heard the growl. A low, guttural sound, far too low to be any sort of pet or familiar. Sayo considered herself skeptical, in general, about some of the wilder rumors about the woods bordering Hanasakigawa, but that didn't stop several unsettling images from popping into her head. Whatever was out there in the fog, she very much hoped it had no interest in them.

The others had frozen in place, but Sayo urged them on. They weren't going to get anywhere by standing still, and Sayo did not want to spend any more time in this place than she had to.

Then whatever it was growled again, from a different direction this time, and Sayo froze as well. It had seemed as though the sound was coming from the direction they were heading, and while Sayo knew it was fruitless to go back the way they'd come, she also had no interest in tangling with some unknown animal.

Well, "no interest" was a generous way of putting it. Sayo was frightened. She'd been frightened last week, too, when they'd run into the vine in the greenhouse, but at least then she'd known what she was dealing with. This time, there could be anything, out there in the fog. Continuing on could be the right decision. It could also be the worst decision. It was the same with staying in place. There was no way to know.

"Do you think we could take it if it comes over here?" Tomoe asked, bracing herself.

"Tomoe… let's think things out a little bit before we try anything, okay?" Saaya seemed as though she was trying to calm her friend down, but the quaver in her voice undermined the effect.

"If it comes to that, I think we'd be better off trying to run than anything else," Sayo said, vaguely disgusted by the obvious nervousness in her words. She glanced over in Lisa's direction to make sure she'd been heard. This was not the position to do things without thinking about the consequences; Sayo had a feeling they might not escape a scuffle with just a bloodied arm, this time.

An agonizing length of time spent waiting, in near-total obscurity, passed—a minute? Five? Ten?—without any sound from the trees around them, so they concluded it was safe to move on, even more slowly and cautiously than before. The sound of a twig breaking underfoot was enough to make all of them flinch as though something had exploded nearby.

"Sayo," Lisa whispered in her ear, as it seemed as though the trees were beginning to thin, "do you hear that?"

Sayo pricked up her ears—and felt her blood run cold. There was no growling to be heard, but what could be heard was perhaps even more ominous: faint, heavy breathing, again not the kind that was likely to be made by any kind of human or animal Sayo was familiar with.

She stopped for a second, trying to think about what to do. Should they keep going and try to sneak past it? Or would continuing to walk in this direction only alert it to their presence?

But before she could further ponder questions she had no way of knowing the answers to, she saw them. Lights in the fog. Eyes, she somehow instinctively knew, although they looked like no eyes she'd ever seen before, burning with an intense brightness that would put the lamps in the school to shame.

Run. Run, her brain told her, but before she could put that into action those lights came closer, much faster than she'd imagined they could move, and she thought, somewhat uselessly, oh, that must have been what they'd seen flashing past earlier, and then they were upon her and it was all she could do to put up her flimsy shield, the one she'd been working on for the past week, in front of their group, in the hopes that it would do something.

She'd closed her eyes to brace for the impact, so all she felt when it hit her shield was the heat of its breath and an overwhelming weight, enough to send her skidding backwards until she hit her back, harder than she wanted, on a tree. She knew she had to get up and either run or try to defend herself again, but the wind had been thoroughly knocked out of her and she felt a sense of resignation wash over her. Whatever was going to come, let it come. It wasn't as though there was much she could do at this point, anyway.

Someone—multiple people, maybe—screamed, and Sayo heard the loud sound of, hopefully human, footsteps. It would be the best decision for the others to get out and avoid all four of them meeting injury, although being left behind wasn't ideal for Sayo either. She opened her eyes, finally, almost expecting those lights to be right upon her once more.

But rather than any sort of pain or terror, the next sensation that Sayo felt was one of relief. A shield, like the one Sayo had been practicing but much larger, much sturdier, appeared around them, dispelling the fog in the area along with it. It was, she thought, her wits slowly returning to her, their history teacher. In this particular setting, without any books or desks, he seemed slightly out of place, but also deeply assured of himself in a way that Sayo found comforting.

"Head back to the dormitories," he said, his voice more commanding than usual. "We have the situation under control, but it's not safe to stay out here."

Sayo had questions, of course, but this was not the time to ask them. Whatever it was that had come after them, it was still out there, somewhere, and never seeing it again would be preferable.

She felt Tomoe's hand grab hers, warmly, firmly, and slowly got to her feet.

"Are you all right, Sayo?" Lisa asked, peering worriedly at her face. "You're not hurt anywhere? With all the fog, I couldn't see what happened to you. I thought you might have been taken away, or eaten, or—"

"Lisa. I'm fine, mostly. I may have some bruises. But it shouldn't be anything serious."

She heard her classmate exhale deeply, and then wrap an arm around her shoulders, whether to support her or to hug her, she wasn't sure.

"Really, I'm so glad…"

They were only really able to relax once they were within the stone walls of the dormitory, at which point the four of them immediately headed for the comforting confines of the first-floor common room and collapsed into the chairs there. Nominally, it was intended for first-year students, but the rules were just going to have to bend a bit for Lisa and Sayo today.

"So, uh, does that kind of stuff… happen often? Am I gonna want to practice some spells like the one Sayo pulled out?" Tomoe looked at the two of them questioningly. "My little sister loves stories about monsters and dragons and the like, but I wasn't exactly expecting to actually run into the real thing!"

"It's not exactly typical, no. At the very least, in my first year here I didn't encounter anything remotely like this." Sayo leaned back into her chair, for once not concerning herself with correct posture. "Incidentally, did any of you happen to catch a glimpse of whatever it was that was after us? I closed my eyes when it hit me, so I didn't get a chance to see." A less worrying topic might have been appropriate for their rattled group, but that was the first thing that had popped into Sayo's head.

"It sort of seemed like it was… bringing the fog with it?" Saaya replied, tentatively. "All I saw was those lights, and then you being covered in fog, so I couldn't really see anything that was going on."

"I guess I could ask around to try and figure out what it was, but if possible I'd really like to never think about it again." Lisa shuddered. "It still feels like we got a little lucky."

"I'm not sure what would have happened to us if you hadn't thought so quickly, Sayo," Saaya said, a hint of nervousness still slipping through her smile, and Tomoe nodded, face serious.

"Saaya's right, we sure do owe you one. I'll do my best to find some way to pay you back. You can count on that."

"Please, don't worry about it." Sayo was a little taken back by how sincere Tomoe seemed. "It wasn't as though I did it expecting some kind of reward. It was more instinct than anything else."

"Maybe it's just stubborn pride, but it doesn't sit right with me to have someone save me and be unable to do anything in return." Tomoe grinned in Sayo's direction, and Sayo decided it wasn't worth pursuing the matter any further. The sympathetic smile on Saaya's face suggested that this might not have been an uncommon situation when Tomoe was involved.

"Sayo," Lisa whispered. "Your face's red~"

"Stop it," Sayo whispered back, suddenly self-conscious about both her own embarrassment and Lisa's grin. Was this any way to treat someone who was still bruised from getting thrown against a tree?

After a little bit more chatting, they left the two first-years downstairs and headed up, Lisa putting her arm around Sayo's waist for support even though Sayo had assured her it was unnecessary.

"How's it feel being a hero, Sayo?" she asked, voice teasing.

"I'm nothing of the sort."

They reached the top of the stairs and Lisa stopped, looking Sayo squarely in the face.

"I thought it was really impressive, though, honestly. In that moment, I was too scared to do anything. All I could do was wait. Nothing like you."

"Better to wait than to do something that could get yourself hurt," Sayo said, and then winced at Lisa's wounded expression.

"I guess so, huh? Even when I try and do something useful, I just end up causing other people trouble, don't I." She stared at her arm. "I'm sure you and Rinko would be better off without me helping you guys, but you're kind so you won't say that kind of thing. Isn't that it?"

"That's not—"

"Even today, I'm sure you thought it. _I need to make sure this girl doesn't do something stupid and get herself hurt._ You thought things would be easier if I wasn't there."

"I… was happy that you were there with me today. I enjoyed our time together, even if it got interrupted."

"You liked being with me, but you won't deny I was useless?" Lisa's gaze was sharp and unyielding.

Sayo paused, unsure of how to respond. She didn't want Lisa to continue to hurt herself. And it was hard to deny that she'd been reckless before. But if Sayo said that… she felt like something in their relationship would break. That the gradually shrinking distance between them would increase, permanently.

And, in any case, the practice she'd done this time had helped them escape safely. So even if Lisa did something reckless, if Sayo just kept working at it, she might be able to cover for both of them. Part of the issue was her own inadequacy, wasn't it?

"I'm sorry. I went a little bit too far with what I said earlier. You weren't useless at all."

"…No?" Lisa's voice was still skeptical.

"I said at the time that it would have been better to wait when we were trapped in the greenhouse… but there's no guarantee that things wouldn't have taken a turn for the worse if we'd waited. It's possible your quick thinking saved us more serious injury."

Sayo could see Lisa's expression brightening, and felt a faint sense of nausea rising in her stomach as she continued. "I think your plan would have worked smoothly if the two of us had done things a little better. If I'd been able to distract the plant for longer, or if you'd been able to squeeze the shears a little harder, or if I'd been able to stop the thorns from hitting you. So if we consider it like that, then the problem wasn't with your plan, it was with our execution of it. If we just work a little harder and understand our limits better, then everything should be fine."

She tried her best to smile in Lisa's direction, and then staggered backwards as Lisa leapt into her arms.

"Sayo…" Lisa's voice whispered at her ear. "Thank you. It feels nice to know that I did something that was useful. That I can be proud of."

Lisa had, Sayo thought, even ignoring the incident at the greenhouse, done plenty of things that were useful. Plenty of things that she could be proud of. Plenty of things that Sayo could never do.

But she didn't have faith in her ability to properly articulate those, so for now this would have to do. Not being entirely honest with Lisa rubbed her the wrong way, and there was a part of her that felt like encouraging her would lead nowhere good. But Sayo would deal with that when it came.

For now, the warmth of Lisa's body on hers was just comforting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> should be less danger/violence in the next couple of chapters


	3. Chapter 3

"I… think we should stop looking for my family's ring," Rinko said, a troubled expression on her face. Lisa was leaning against Sayo's bed in her two friends' dorm room, staring up at the slightly faded pieces of art—also family keepsakes?—on the wall above Rinko's bed. Sayo was next to her, at what Lisa felt was a closer distance than she'd been at the last time they'd been in here.

"Right," Sayo said, a hint of gentleness in her voice. "I think this is the correct decision. Based on what's been happening recently, it seems like this is a bit more of a dangerous proposition than we'd originally anticipated. Maybe, if we have reason to believe that things are calming down, we can resume our search, but as it is…"

The students had been confined to a small portion of the grounds for the last week while the administration investigated the breaks in the barrier. Both Lisa and Sayo had had plenty of questions asked of them, presumably in an attempt to pinpoint exactly what the source of the problem was, and Lisa was more than happy, for the most part, to go along with Rinko and leave all of this behind for the moment.

"That sounds good! A little bit of excitement in your life isn't a bad thing, but I think I've definitely gotten a little too much, recently." Lisa smiled in Rinko's direction, then, in a slightly softer voice, continued. "Are you going to be all right, though, Rinko? I know this ring was really important to you, so, maybe, if we find the right opportunity, we can keep searching for it…"

"Lisa," Rinko said, more firmly than Lisa was used to hearing from her. "It is important to me, but… even before I got here, I'd given up on ever finding it again. So it's not, um, as big of a deal as you might think. And also… I don't think there's anything I want badly enough that I'd want either of you to be hurt for it."

"That, I can certainly agree with." Sayo glanced briefly in Lisa's direction, then back to Rinko. "But if either of you do need any assistance with anything—preferably light on danger—I'll do my best to offer my help."

"Thank you." Rinko's smile was warm. "It's reassuring… to know that you think that way."

She was really surrounded by good people, wasn't she, Lisa thought. Better than she probably deserved, although she knew actually saying that wouldn't end well for her.

As she left the room, Sayo called out to her, prompting her to stop in front of their door, upon which the names "Hikawa Sayo" and "Shirokane Rinko" were written in unadorned script.

"Sayo? What's up?"

Sayo looked hesitant for a moment, then spoke. "Are you sure you're all right, ending the search like this? I didn't want you to think it was your fault that things got called off…"

"I'm not that weak of a person, you know, Sayo? Besides, you said it the other day, right? That I was helpful. Not a burden. So I'm not worried about it. Honest."

A slightly painful look appeared on Sayo's face for a second, and then vanished. "I'm glad to hear that," she said. "And then, also…"

"Hmm? There's more?" Lisa asked, entwining her fingers with Sayo's. Sayo gave Lisa a look and a sigh, but made no move to pull away.

"Hina asked me to send her a number of items she can't get her hands on where she is, but I'm not certain exactly where to get all of them… so I was wondering if you wanted to help me do some shopping."

"I'm happy to go, of course, but I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be if Hina wants some really weird stuff."

"That's fine. We can figure it out together," Sayo said, smiling softly, and Lisa felt something flutter in her chest.

"When did you want to go? Our next day off?"

"That would be fine with me, as long as you don't have prior plans. There, well, aren't a lot of people I can ask this kind of thing to, so I'm happy you agreed." Sayo turned her gaze slightly downward, as though embarrassed by her own admission.

"You could have asked Chisato. She should know Hina's tastes pretty well, right?"

"I think I'd go without help rather than stoop to asking her."

Lisa laughed and squeezed Sayo's hands once more. "Anyway, I'll be sure to leave that day open. See you then!"

As she took her leave, she found herself unable to keep a grin off her face. Sayo showing an interest in her had, lately, been more than enough to raise her spirits.

"What's got you so happy today?" Chisato asked. They'd run into each other, coincidentally, just outside of the big dining hall attached to the dormitory and Lisa—maybe because of the good mood she'd been in earlier—had suggested they eat together.

"Sayo invited me to go shopping on our next day off, so that's got me a little excited, I guess?"

"You're really getting along well with her, aren't you. I can't say I quite understand the appeal of someone like that."

"Sayo's a nice person! She's been nothing but kind and supportive to me. Sure, she's a little stiff, but she's cute when she smiles, and fun to be around. I don't know how I could not like her, really."

"By 'nice,' you mean she spoils you? Tells you what you want to hear?" There was an amused look on Chisato's face Lisa found distinctly irritating.

"That's not it. She's genuine, unlike certain people I know. To be honest, she's blunt enough that she says what she means even when it might be better to sugarcoat things a little."

"Human emotions get the better of all of us, you know? I don't think even Hikawa Sayo is above the desire to treat certain people a little differently."

"What are you trying to get at?"

"Oh, nothing in particular. It's not my business, anyway, what's between the two of you. But do try not to do anything too foolhardy. Especially not anything where I'll have to clean up after you."

"That's not going to happen. But thanks for your concern."

Chisato sighed exaggeratedly, then changed the subject. "Incidentally, have you heard anything from Hina recently?"

"Hina? Not since near the start of the year. I think she might have sent something to Sayo more recently, though."

"I see."

"What, are you lonely?"

"That's not it. She just has a tendency to get in trouble, as I'm sure you're aware. I'd like some reassurance that that isn't happening where she is now." There was a faraway, almost wistful look on Chisato's face that Lisa wasn't used to seeing there. Maybe, she thought suddenly, Hina's fondness for Chisato wasn't entirely one-sided.

"…I'll ask Sayo about her for you."

"Oh, would you? I'd appreciate that." Chisato's expression snapped back to its usual unreadable state.

The two of them finished eating, largely in silence. "I have some work to finish after this, so I'm going to head back," Lisa said, gathering her dishes.

"Of course. Enjoy your date, and try not to get hurt. I've heard some… exciting stories about your escapades lately."

"I'll do both of those things, but I don't really need you to tell me that."

Chisato smiled. "I thought you might respond that way. I do mean it, though—it'd be inconvenient if anything were to happen to you."

That was as close as Lisa was going to get to warmth from Chisato. There had been a time, she thought, when the two of them hadn't been quite so guarded around each other. It had happened so slowly and naturally she'd never thought much of it, but suddenly the distance between the two of them felt dully painful, as though she'd suddenly become aware that something she'd cared about had gone missing. Whether it was the kind of thing she could find again or the kind that would never be recovered, she couldn't say.

* * *

Sayo showed up in front of her dorm room door on their appointed day off, a somewhat troubled look on her face Lisa didn't fail to notice.

"You all right? Having second thoughts about going?"

Sayo blinked at Lisa's question. It seemed she hadn't realized what face she was making. "Everything's fine, more or less. Why do you ask?"

"You were making a weird face. Like you were worried about something."

"Oh." Sayo sighed. "It's not anything you need to concern yourself with. Something I was practicing just wasn't going the way I planned it to, that's all."

"Maybe this'll be a good distraction, then!"

"Maybe so."

The entrance to the Hanasakigawa grounds—on the opposite side from where they'd met Tomoe and Saaya the other day—was a short distance away from the quiet town that bore the same name. Many of the shops there were well used to getting a lot of traffic from students, and Lisa was herself something of a regular customer at a number of them. Compared to the bustle of the city she'd grown up in, it was a pleasant place, much warmer and more intimate. Or perhaps it just appeared that way because of the people around her.

As they passed a traditional-looking ramen shop, Lisa thought back to the number of times she'd eaten in town with Hina. Sayo's sister was particularly fond of the oily (but tasty) food at some of the more nondescript, out-of-the-way places in Hanasakigawa, and while Lisa was perfectly happy to accompany her, there were a number of other locations she wanted to explore. Hina had mentioned that she and Sayo had fairly similar taste in food, but maybe Lisa could rope Sayo into coming to one of the cuter, fluffier establishments with her sometime.

"What did Hina want, exactly?" she asked, poking her head over Sayo's shoulder to glance at the letter her classmate was holding.

"It seems like mostly reagents and other ingredients. For what purpose, I have a feeling it's best not to ask."

"A couple of these seem like herbs we should be able to get at the place I usually pick them up, and I wanted to replenish my stock anyway, so how about we stop by there?"

"That… seems reasonable, yes."

The shop Lisa had mentioned was a modest place with a thick scent about it, as though herbs being in the building for so many years had caused their smell to sink into its foundation. Walls full of dried herbs took over the entire right side of the store, while the left was a collection of fresh herbs and other miscellany, a couple of pots reminding Lisa of the ones she'd seen in the greenhouse the other day. The sun streaming in through the front window lent the place a warm, comfortable feel, and just being in the proximity of the place made Lisa want to take a deep breath of herb-infused air.

The middle-aged woman who ran the store nodded at them as they came in, her bun bobbing slightly as she did so.

"It's nice to see you again, Lisa. Is this a friend of yours?"

"Yeah, a classmate of mine who's shopping with me today. We actually have a couple of things we're looking for specifically, so I was wondering if you had them here or knew where we might be able to find them…"

As the two of them pored over Hina's shopping list together, the owner posed a question to Lisa.

"That girl you're with… is she the same one you said you wanted to buy herbs for the last time you were here?"

Lisa flinched in surprise upon hearing the question, then glanced over in Sayo's direction to make sure she hadn't heard. Sayo looked back from where she was investigating a shelf of dried herbs questioningly, prompting Lisa to heave an internal sigh of relief. It wasn't as though Sayo couldn't know that information, it was just… a little embarrassing, that was all.

"Um, yeah, that's her. She really liked the mix you recommended me, so thank you for that."

"You're welcome! But I get the feeling that she would have been happy with whatever she received, as long as it was from you." The owner winked at Lisa. "Anyway, I'll try and grab the items you asked for. Feel free to look around a little more if you'd like."

Face slightly hot, Lisa returned to Sayo. "Were you able to find everything?" Sayo asked her.

"Most of it, I think. What about you? There anything you wanted to try?"

"I thought these had a pleasant scent." Sayo passed a small bag to Lisa, who took it and sniffed it herself.

"You're right, they do smell good… but, well, this is a little difficult to say…"

"What is it?" Sayo looked concerned.

"These are usually used as an aphrodisiac, so I'm not sure if they'd be appropriate for something we're making, you know?"

Sayo's face instantly turned bright red, and she hurriedly tried to smooth over the situation. "I'm sorry, it wasn't my intent to suggest anything untoward with my choice—"

Lisa burst out laughing. "Don't worry, I know you didn't mean anything by it! Though you're really cute when you're flustered, Sayo. Maybe we should pick some of these up to commemorate the occasion, huh?"

Sayo glared at her. "I'm beginning to wonder if bringing Chisato along might have been the better decision."

"Sorry, sorry, I'll buy you something nice, so don't get too mad at me, okay?"

After the herb shop, they wandered throughout Hanasakigawa, eventually acquiring almost all of the items on Hina's list—a motley assortment of feathers, strange rocks, and different types of salt.

"You feeling any better, Sayo?" Lisa asked, swinging her bag back and forth as they walked back towards the school grounds.

"With regards to what?"

"Earlier, you said you were worried about something, right? Was this a good distraction?"

"I suppose it was. Thank you, Lisa."

"You're welcome! Though honestly, I think I'm the one who should be thanking you. I had a lot of fun, going shopping together."

"I'm glad to hear that," Sayo said, voice soft. "I know I'm not exactly the most sociable person, or the easiest to get along with, but I've very much enjoyed spending time with you, recently."

Lisa swallowed, hard, and shifted her bag to her other hand. Then, tentatively, she slipped her free hand into Sayo's, feeling the other girl flinch at the sudden sensation.

"Sorry, did you not like it?" So she said, but Lisa made no move to let go. An underhanded move if there ever was one.

"That's, um, not it. I was just a little surprised, that's all." Sayo's ears were gradually turning red, and Lisa, once again, couldn't stop a grin from rising to her face. Was she being too forward? Taking advantage of the seeming difficulty Sayo had in saying no to her? Maybe so. But when Sayo showed her those cute expressions of hers, or told her that she enjoyed spending time together… her desire couldn't help but to swell to greater and greater sizes.

"How did your date go?" Chisato asked in the bustle before their class the next day.

"Good!" Lisa flashed a smile in Chisato's direction. "Been a while since I've been out with someone in town, so that was fun, and of course she was real cute too—"

"What! A date?" They were interrupted from behind by Aya, who'd seemingly come to class in a hurry given the unruly tangles in her hair. "With who? I don't remember hearing anything about this!"

Chisato jerked her head towards Sayo, who was frowning at her textbook in the other corner of the room. "With a certain stiff classmate of ours."

"Chisato called it a date, but it's not like we're going out or anything. Hina just wanted Sayo to buy her some stuff in town, so I ended up coming along. Well, not that I'd mind going on a real date with her, though, you know?"

Aya blinked a few times, seemingly still surprised by what she was hearing. "I mean, I'm happy for you, but I wasn't expecting this kind of thing at all… Sayo, huh…"

"She's real nice, I promise! I think the two of you would get along for sure if you had the chance to talk."

Aya looked as though she hadn't been entirely convinced by Lisa's words, but the appearance of their intermediate magic teacher—a woman on the younger side who the students liked but who had a tendency to be rather strict—ended their conversation before it could develop further.

The day's lesson was focused on what their teacher described as "the arts of the illusive." Deceiving people hardly seemed like something that a teacher would want to emphasize, but there were, she explained to them, a number of reasonable situations where one might want to make something appear as something it was not. Sort of like wearing makeup, Lisa supposed.

The key to making illusions effective lay in belief and imagination, their class quickly discovered. Belief in the sense that some part of you had to actually believe that your textbook was not actually a textbook and was, in fact, whatever you wanted it to appear as (in this case, a cat). And imagination in the sense that you had to clearly picture that cat in your mind in order to have it appear in place of the book.

"Wow, Chisato, you're good at this!" Aya said, looking enviously at Chisato's vaguely flickering, but still generally convincing, cat. Her own was in a pitiful half-book half-cat state that Lisa had to try her best not to laugh at.

"It seems like the kind of thing you'd be good at, Chisato." Really, Chisato was good at most things having to do with magic, but Lisa couldn't resist the opportunity to get in a barb at her classmate.

"You might be right. I thought you'd be a little bit better at it yourself." Chisato glanced at Lisa's slightly malformed cat, which was every so often turning itself back into a book when Lisa's concentration broke.

"Guess I'm just too honest of a person, huh?"

"Speaking of which, your friend over there seems to be having some trouble." The three of them glanced across the classroom at Sayo, whose textbook looked vaguely furry but was otherwise stubbornly remaining a textbook.

"That's, um, unexpected," Aya said. "I don't know if there's anything I've ever been able to do better than Sayo before…"

Lisa hoped Sayo wasn't being too hard on herself for this, but she had a feeling, based on what she'd learned about Sayo over the past few weeks, that her friend most certainly was. In fact, knowing Sayo, she'd probably been practicing, and worrying, about this well in advance of today's lesson.

She was well aware that she was the kind of person who couldn't leave people who were in trouble alone. And when it came to Sayo, that feeling only intensified. Of course, she wanted to do whatever she could for a girl she'd been becoming increasingly fond of, but she also still couldn't shake the feeling, despite what she'd been told, that she'd caused Sayo a lot of problems recently. So if she could do something unequivocally good for Sayo—if she could prove her usefulness—that, more than anything, would calm the swirling unease in her chest.

"Sayo!" she called out, as class ended.

"Lisa. What is it?" The softness with which Sayo had begun to call her name recently was gone, replaced by the sharp, serious tone of Lisa's memories.

"I was just wondering if you were doing all right. You've looked a little bit worried these past couple of days…" She was dancing around saying what she meant outright, worried that doing so might puncture Sayo's surprisingly sensitive pride, but it seemed as though her efforts were in vain.

"You said it earlier, did you not? That you weren't so weak of a person as to need me to worry about you. The same goes for me." They'd gotten along well enough recently that Lisa had almost assumed that Sayo would forgive whatever mistake Lisa might have made, but maybe she'd overestimated how close the two of them actually were.

"Sayo—"

Sayo sighed in response and shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry. I didn't intend to be rude towards you. But I don't think this is a situation I need your assistance with. Like many things, a little more practice and I'll be able to get an acceptable result."

She strode off down the hallway, leaving behind the faint, lingering scent of her hair and a jumbled set of feelings in Lisa's chest: something like worry, something like sadness, something like determination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this'll be the last chapter of this fic for the foreseeable future. not much of a resolution, i know, but for a number of reasons i'm not really feeling up to finishing it. thanks to people who said nice things, and sorry if you were looking forward to future developments! i won't rule out coming back to this in the future, but it'd probably be best not to get your hopes up. i'll still be around writing other stuff in the meantime.


End file.
